Die Glocke

For Schiller’s poem "Das Lied von der Glocke", see Song of the Bell. For other uses, see The Bell (disambiguation).

Die Glocke (pronounced [diː ˈɡlɔkə], German for "The Bell") was a purported top secret Nazi scientific technological device, secret weapon, or Wunderwaffe. Described by Polish journalist and author Igor Witkowski in Prawda o Wunderwaffe (2000), it was later popularized by military journalist and author Nick Cook as well as by writers such as Joseph P. Farrell and others who associate it with Nazi occultism and antigravity or free energy research.

According to Patrick Kiger writing in National Geographic magazine, Die Glocke has become a popular subject of speculation and a following similar to science fiction fandom exists around it and other alleged Nazi "miracle weapons" or Wunderwaffen.[1] Mainstream reviewers such as former aerospace scientist David Myhra express skepticism that such a device ever actually existed.[1][2][3]

History

Discussion of Die Glocke originated in the works of Igor Witkowski. His 2000 Polish language book Prawda o Wunderwaffe (The Truth About The Wonder Weapon, reprinted in German as Die Wahrheit über die Wunderwaffe), refers to it as "The Nazi-Bell". Witkowski wrote that he first discovered the existence of Die Glocke by reading transcripts from an interrogation of former Nazi SS Officer Jakob Sporrenberg. According to Witkowski, he was shown the allegedly classified transcripts in August 1997 by an unnamed Polish intelligence contact who said he had access to Polish government documents regarding Nazi secret weapons.[3] Witkowski maintains that he was only allowed to transcribe the documents and was not allowed to make any copies. Although no evidence of the veracity of Witkowski’s statements has been produced, they reached a wider audience when they were retold by British author Nick Cook, who added his own views to Witkowski’s statements in The Hunt for Zero Point.[4]

Description

Allegedly an experiment carried out by Third Reich scientists working for the SS in a German facility known as Der Riese ("The Giant")[5] near the Wenceslaus mine and close to the Czech border, Die Glocke is described as being a device "made out of a hard, heavy metal" approximately 2.7 metres (9 ft) wide and 3.7 to 4.6 metres (12 to 15 ft) high, having a shape similar to that of a large bell. According to an interview of Witkowski by Cook, this device ostensibly contained two counter-rotating cylinders which would be "filled with a mercury-like substance, violet in color". This metallic liquid was code-named "Xerum 525" and was "stored in a tall thin thermos flask a meter high encased in lead".[6] Additional substances said to be employed in the experiments, referred to as Leichtmetall (light metal), "included thorium and beryllium peroxides".[6] Witkowski describes Die Glocke, when activated, as having an effect zone extending out 150 to 200 metres (490 to 660 ft). Within the zone, crystals would form in animal tissue, blood would gel & separate while plants would decompose into a grease like substance.[6] Witkowski also said that five of the seven original scientists working on the project died in the course of the tests.[7] Based upon certain external indications, Witkowski states that the ruins of a concrete framework—aesthetically dubbed "The Henge"—in the vicinity of the Wenceslas mine (50°37′43″N 16°29′40″E / 50.62861°N 16.49444°E / 50.62861; 16.49444 (The Henge)), some 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) southeast of the main Complex Sokolec underground works of Project Riese, may have once served as a test rig for an experiment in "anti-gravity propulsion" generated with Die Glocke.[8] However, the derelict structure itself has also been interpreted to resemble the remains of a conventional industrial cooling tower.[9]

Witkowski’s statements along with Cook’s views prompted further conjecture about the device from various American authors, including Joseph P. Farrell, Jim Marrs, and Henry Stevens. In his book, Hitler's Suppressed and Still-Secret Weapons, Science and Technology (2007), Stevens concludes that the violet mercury-like substance described by Witkowski could only be red mercury because normal mercury "has no fluid compounds according to conventional wisdom".[10] Stevens presents a story attributed to German scientist Otto Cerny as told to then 13-year-old Greg Rowe around 1961 which alleged that a concave mirror on top of a device which seemed similar in description to Die Glocke provided the ability to see "images from the past" during its operation.[11]

Supposed whereabouts

Witkowski speculated that Die Glocke ended up in a "Nazi-friendly South American country". Cook, on the other hand, speculates that it was moved to the United States as part of a deal made with SS General Hans Kammler. Farrell speculated that it was recovered as part of the Kecksburg UFO incident.[12] This last theory was dramatized in 2009 by The Discovery Channel and again in 2011 by The History Channel’s Ancient Aliens series.

In popular culture

The books Black Order (2005) by James Rollins, Swastika (2005) by Michael Slade, The Shadow Project (2010) by Scott Mariani, Echo of the Reich (2012) by James Becker, Der Trojaner (2013) by Eric Verna, The Atlantis Gene (2013) by A.G. Riddle and The Goddess Of The Devil by Mart Sander have "Die Glocke" as their central theme.

The song Die Glocke by Cage, in their 2009 album Science of Annihilation also deals with this subject.

"Die Glocke" also makes an appearance in several video games, most notably the series Call of Duty. In Call of Duty, it appears in the Fly Trap easter egg on the map Der Riese.

"Die Glocke" is a central plot point in the Doctor Who novel "The Crawling Terror".

In Call of Duty: World at War, Der Riese is the fourth and final zombies map. It features a large bell shaped machine that can teleport players to another part of the level. The bell and room are suspiciously more purple than the rest of the map.

In Call of Duty: Black Ops III, "The Giant" is a remake of Call of Duty: World at War map Der Riese where Die Glocke makes its appearance.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Kiger, Patrick J. "Nazi Secret Weapons". National Geographic. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  2. ↑ Cook 2001, p. 267
  3. 1 2 Farrell 2006
  4. ↑ Kleiner, Kurt (5 January 2011). ""The Hunt for Zero Point" by Nick Cook". Salon.com. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  5. ↑ Stevens 2007, p. 249
  6. 1 2 3 Cook 2001, p. 192
  7. ↑ Cook 2001, p. 193
  8. ↑ Cook 2005, UFO: The Secret Evidence telecast
  9. ↑ Gerold Schelm 2005, The Henge at Ludwikowice, Poland – test rig for the NAZI-Bell?
  10. ↑ Stevens 2007, p. 250
  11. ↑ Stevens 2007, p. 251-252, 255
  12. ↑ Farrell 2004, p. 335

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Die Glocke.

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Literature

Documentaries

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